Shadow Thief
by MonMonCandy
Summary: Franada (With some USxUK in the future): Matthew is a quiet and shy guy that generally goes unnoticed. Worse still, whenever he gets nervous, the tension shows up on his face as a frown. But lately, he's been feeling a powerful gaze on him on the morning subway. It must be his imagination right? After all, he has always been like a shadow... *1st chapter smut warning*


**Shadow Thief**

_Matthew had always been quiet person, one that was almost never noticed. Worse still, he was painfully shy. Whenever he got too nervous, his face would uncontrollably stiffen into a slight frown. On the rare occasions he did get noticed, people would think he was either frowning at them, or just a really unfriendly guy. He didn't want to be this way, but he just couldn't seem to help it. He was lonely, though he had convinced himself otherwise, having given up all hope of finding a friend, much less the hope of finding love. But lately, he's been feeling a powerful gaze on him. It must be his imagination right? After all, he has always been like a shadow…_

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**Chapter 1: We're Just Getting Started…**

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"Ex-excuse me… So-sorry… Sorry…" Matthew was struggling to make his way through the crowds streaming from the subway station. Not a soul responded to a single one of his apologies. Of course no one would, nobody ever noticed him. Matthew was used to being a shadow of a person ever since he was little.

He could still recall one of the earliest memories he had of his dismal life like it was yesterday. His parents had brought him and his older brother, Alfred, to the playground. Right away, the other children asked Alfred to come play, though nobody even glanced Matthew's way. The only reason why he had ended up joining in their game was that Alfred insisted that Matthew had to play too. However, through all the rounds of tag that they played, the person who was "it" always seemed to forget Matthew existed, never even attempting to chase him once.

After the fifth round ended, one child's mother called everyone over to the bench she was sitting on. She had a big bag of candy that she wanted to share with all her son's newly-made friends. Matthew stood at the back, eager to get some candy too; however, his turn never did arrive. The seven other kids had all gotten a piece of candy, but the young mother didn't seem to realize that Matthew was there too. Alfred noticed this and, being the protective big brother he was, said aloud, "My brother didn't get any candy ma'am!" Although he knew Alfred was just trying to be helpful, Matthew already felt the embarrassment of being the only one left out, and having this fact brought to the attention of everyone made his face stiffen up.

"Oh dear! Sorry! Would you like one too?" the mother asked, offering her bag of candy to Matthew. "D-don't ne-need…" Matthew barely managed to choke out the two words in his flustered state.

Alfred continued to play with the other children after Matthew somehow convinced Alfred that he found reading more fun. "My! What an un-cute child! Couldn't even tell me I had skipped over him! He was just making me look bad in front of everyone else! Also, did you see that frown on his face when I offered him the sweets in the end? How rude! Such a difference from that adorable brother of his!" Matthew overheard the mother complaining to her friend. Matthew couldn't remember how old he was at the time, still young for sure, but old enough to understand. Old enough… And it hurt him… Bad.

Well, Matthew was used to the treatment he received from having the personality he had. He had to be, right? After all, it had been so many years already. He shook off all the unpleasant feelings stirred from remembering the past. Now was not the time for reminiscing, he had to concentrate on getting to work.

Matthew finally managed to squeeze his way onto the packed train. And there it was again. For the past week or so, he'd been feeling a powerful gaze on him whenever he took the morning train. He didn't like looking into the faces of others on the train, as he didn't want them to think he was staring, so his eyes always remained downcast. Plus he was sure the tension he felt from the constant fear of doing something stupid in public during commute was showing on his face again as a scowl. He dared not to look around, so the suspicion he had of the gaze was based on pure instinct. But that was only what his gut told him. After all, logically, that was impossible. Why would anyone stare at such a boring person every day? Especially a guy with such an unfriendly face, if you looked closely, that is if you actually even noticed him in the first place. Maybe he was just feeling a gaze of someone randomly staring past him into space? Or maybe someone was looking at a person beside him? Yeah, one of those had to be it.

The people around him shuffled as the train approached the next stop, jostling Matthew about. Before he knew what was happening, there was a large sweaty man's hairy armpit up in front of his face, the owner of said pit stretching to hold the bar overhead to steady himself. Matthew was horrified and wanted to vomit. The stench was unbearable, making Matthew gag. _"Why is this happening to me?"_ Matthew thought, his eyes smarting from the putrid smell. _"When was the last time he even had a proper bath?"_ Just as Matthew was thinking how much he wished this next stop was the sweaty man's, he was suddenly yanked from behind, and dragged off the train.

Matthew was, obviously, very stunned indeed. He'd been dragged off the train by a total stranger, five stops away from his destination. He whipped around to see the perpetrator, and a golden-haired man, dressed smartly in a pinstripe suit, stared back at him with the bluest eyes he'd ever seen. His long hair was pulled back into a neat ponytail, and he had an overall clean-cut look about him, save for the few scraggly hairs growing out of his chin.

"W-who are you?" Matthew managed to force out.

"Ahh! Sorry! It just looked like you were in a difficult position, and before I knew it, I had pulled you off the train… But I'm not a suspicious person! I swear! Francis Bonnefoy, businessman, twenty-five years old, at your service!" the man said, ending with a wink.

"O-oh… I'm Matthew… Matthew Williams…" Matthew felt obliged to reveal his name as well. "Err… Well… Thanks for your help Francis, but I really need to get to work now." Matthew turned back towards the train tracks.

"Oh no… It's my fault that you are going to be late to wherever you're going! Please! Let me make it up to you! Tonight! Are you free tonight? Perhaps after work? At eight? I'll meet you right here!" The train had arrived at the station.

"Well…"

"I'll take that to mean yes!" The man cheerfully waved goodbye as Matthew forced himself once more onto the train. His work must've been close to that station, seeing as how he didn't need to get back on the train. It was rude, the way he had yanked Matthew off the train just like that, but he couldn't be that bad. After all, he had saved Matthew from that horrible pit experience. Matthew shuddered, recalling the stench from before.

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Work was uneventful as usual for Matthew. All he ever really had to do was to sit at the back of the office crunching numbers. Although it was a job that took time, things were pretty simple once you got the procedure down. By the time Matthew could leave the office, it was approaching eight. Just about the right time to meet the guy from this morning, Francis. _"He must have already forgotten though… But it doesn't matter I guess… It's not like I will ever see him again…"_ Matthew was quickly approaching the stop he was supposed to meet Francis at. When the train finally reached, Matthew saw through the side window of the train car, a man with golden hair waving at him before getting on the train as well.

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"I was so happy that you showed up Matthew! Let's toast to our meeting!" Francis said, offering up his wine glass. "C-cheers" Matthew picked up his glass as well.

Francis had brought Matthew to a posh French restaurant downtown. He could only guess that Francis was pretty well off, as he had even reserved them a private room. Nervous, Matthew kept sipping away at his wine, listening to Francis chatter away about his likes and dislikes, and how frustrated he was that his cousin, Arthur, had recently started dating "an obnoxious American man". _"Hmm… Arthur sounds like a man's name… Wait… He did refer to Arthur as a 'he', so he must've missed out the 'wo-' in American woman…"_

"So enough about me… Now that you know I'm not suspicious, tell me more about yourself Matthew!" By this time, Matthew had unwittingly downed almost the whole bottle of wine with his nervous sipping, and Francis's attentive refilling.

Loosened up from all the drinking, Matthew began to pour out his heart's sorrows to the man he'd just barely met. He talked about his lack of presence, his constant nervous frown, and how he felt he'd never make a friend, let alone find love. Francis just listened patiently. "You're actually the first stranger to even seem to care I exist!" Matthew chuckled sadly. Francis swiftly lifted Matthew's face with his hands, looked him in the eye, and told him that he did care, and that he was beautiful the way he was. It was then that Matthew realized just how drawn he was to Francis's blue eyes, and he couldn't help but notice how good looking Francis was, even from a man's point of view. He couldn't help but blush at the fact that this man was paying so much attention to him.

Lightening the mood, Matthew started talking about Alfred, and what a great older brother he was. "The last time we met, I got completely drunk, but he still took care of me the whole night! Though he did complain about how I tend to forget what I do when I drink too much… Still! He's the world's best brother! I couldn't have asked for more!" Matthew was feeling really happy for the first time in a long time. He had someone to talk to, someone who genuinely seemed to care, and treated him really well. Matthew was really starting to like Francis… A lot…

"_Hmm… So you tend to forget things when you drink too much huh?" _Francis thought quietly, a small smirk dancing on his face… … _"No! Bad Francis! Didn't you already say you would take things nice and slow?" _Francis chided himself inwardly.

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"Wow! It's so big! And so clean! I wish my house were like this!" Matthew exclaimed excitedly. Francis had brought Matthew back to his penthouse suite in a taxi when they were done at the restaurant. "So what should we do next? I'll rest here a bit while you decide…" Matthew, now completely uninhibited from too much drinking, plopped himself on the brown leather couch nearby.

"_Please don't tempt me like that Matthew, lying there so innocently… God… I can't believe no one else has noticed him yet! I mean… Look at those cute cheeks flushed from all that alcohol! That silky blond hair, with that cute little curl sticking out; those adorable glasses framing that sweet face of his; those full, red lips; that little bit of chest revealed by his partially unbuttoned shirt… … … Damn! Screw taking it slow! Screw being a gentleman! Heck, screw everything!"_ Francis groaned inwardly as he heard the last of his self-restraint snap.

Matthew's eyes fluttered open in response to creaking generated by movement on the couch, and he found himself trapped beneath Francis. Strangely enough, he didn't feel the least bit frightened.

"Say, what do you think of me Matthew?" Francis whispered in his cool, sexy voice.

"I think you're really nice…" Matthew blushed. "And handsome… …You're the first person, besides Alfred and my parents, who has made me so happ-" That was all Francis could take before leaning down and silencing Matthew with a kiss.

Matthew was shocked at first, which left an opening for Francis to snake his tongue into Matthew's mouth.

"Mmn… Nnn… Mmn~" Matthew moaned as their kiss got deeper, Francis's tongue caressing every inch of his mouth.

"Mmn… Mmmnn~" Francis's hand was slowly making its way down Matthew's chest, skillfully undoing buttons as it went along.

"Nnn! Hnnn… Mmnn~" A hand stopped over Matthew's left breast. Agile fingers started playing with his nipple, teasing him. Matthew felt something stir in his groin.

It was as if everywhere Francis touched had been set ablaze. Matthew couldn't help but respond to Francis's long kiss with equal passion, his mouth hungry for more. The feeling in his groin kept growing and growing. It was even starting to get a little painful.

"Hmnn~! Mmmn… Mmnn… Ahh!" Matthew failed miserably at suppressing his voice when Francis suddenly grabbed him below. Matthew could feel each one of Francis's fingers even through his thin dress pants, stroking him slowly, filling him with a pleasurable sensation that he'd never before experienced.

"I won't put it in yet. I want you to be completely sober for that, so let's make do with this first." Francis whispered to Matthew after finally breaking their kiss. He then pressed his bulging groin down onto Matthew's, causing Matthew to cry out in pleasure.

"Ahh~! Mmmnn~! More…" Matthew's hips were shaking uncontrollably, his groin pressing harder and harder against Francis's, trying to create more friction between them.

"It'll be my pleasure…" Francis responded by grinding his hips against Matthew even harder, thrusting rhythmically.

Francis stole Matthew's lips once again, further exploring his mouth, making him moan loudly yet again. Matthew could feel the pace of Francis's thrusts quickening. Soon, the combined sensation of Francis's nimble tongue and hard thrusting was too much to bear, and Matthew was sent over the edge in ecstasy. Francis's movements soon stopped as he, too, reached his climax.

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"Good morning Matthew! Slept well last night?" Matthew awoke to the sound of Francis's cheery voice, and the smell of freshly made buttermilk pancakes.

"Oww… Where?..." The unfamiliar room seemed to be spinning around Matthew's head.

"We came back to my place, remember Matthew? Now go wash up and get ready for breakfast! I made pancakes! You did mention you liked maple syrup yesterday, right?" Francis said with a dazzling smile on his face.

"T-thanks… Oh! Uhh… I'm so sorry that you had to take care of me last night! I-I hope I wasn't too horrible a drunkard…" Matthew apologized, realizing his clothes had been changed to a clean set of pyjamas.

"It was not a problem at all!" Francis replied, still smiling away. "It was my pleasure! In fact, you must be the one suffering after drinking nearly a whole bottle of wine last night Matthew!" he chuckled.

"R-really? I did? W-well, thank you again Francis…" Matthew thanked Francis yet again. He was feeling extremely happy today. He felt that he had finally found someone he could easily talk to, someone reliable that he could count on, someone who truly seemed to like him, and could be a really good friend. Though, in the back of his mind, Matthew did have this nagging feeling he was forgetting something… Something important.

"Like I said, it was my pleasure Matthew!"

"_So he really forgot everything huh? Well, I've had my eye on him for so long, there's no way I'm giving up. Soon enough, I swear I'll make him mine."_


End file.
